Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey Goes Brunette and Scruffy

How else to explain the actor's dramatic transformation from blond and aristocratically well fed to trim and brunette with stubble? (Unless of course it's for another role).

Stevens, 30, last seen crashing to his death on Downton's shocking finale, reemerged over the weekend at the 2012 GLAAD Media Awards in New York with his new look (accentuated by a Calvin Klein Collection suit).

And while Michelle Dockery's Lady Mary is going to have struggle without her exceedingly earnest baby daddy next season, Stevens is taking on new acting challenges, shooting the thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones with Liam Neeson.